Scottish Executive

Asylum Seekers

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether employees of local authorities who carry out duties within Dungavel Detention Centre have been subject to fingerprinting and/or photographic records being taken.

Mr Jim Wallace: Immigration matters are reserved and are the responsibility of the Home Office Immigration Service; this includes the running of Dungavel Detention Centre.

Dentists

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what resources it will allocate to Grampian Health Board to ensure that the full complement of hospital dental consultants is recruited.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive is investing record resources in NHSScotland and in Grampian. It is for NHS Grampian to determine how best to deploy these resources in accordance with their assessment of local needs and priorities and in the best interests of patients.

Dentists

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is required to establish a postgraduate training facility for dentistry in the Grampian region.

Malcolm Chisholm: A postgraduate dental facility has existed for many years at the Foresterhill complex in Aberdeen and will be upgraded and expanded over the next few months. Local general dental practitioners are very interested in and participate regularly in postgraduate activity at the centre.

Dentists

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made towards increasing the number of general professional training opportunities for dental graduates in the Grampian region.

Malcolm Chisholm: General Professional Training (GPT) schemes comprise one year in general dental practice and, usually, six months in the Community Dental Service (CDS) and six months in the Hospital Dental Service (HDS). The Scottish Council for Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education have been seeking to establish such schemes in the Grampian region and are making progress. However, there have been problems in identifying suitable placements within the HDS to create substantive schemes.

  Vocational Training (VT) provides a year of supervised experience in general dental practice. Recruitment to VT schemes in Grampian is good and interest is growing. Following the VT year, postgraduate advisers assist the trainees to find appropriate placements in the CDS or HDS if they wish it, therefore creating ad hoc GPT arrangements.

Employment

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many job losses there have been in each parliamentary constituency since May 1999, broken down by employing organisation.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The information requested is not available centrally.

Health

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been allocated for research on the early discharge of patients from hospitals in (a) 1999-2000 and (b) 2000-01 and on applications for discharge in 2001-02.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive has not commissioned any research on this topic since 1999 and has no immediate plans to do so.

Health

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are being taken to protect women from any risk to the heart from radiation during mammogram examinations.

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding will be made available to upgrade mammogram equipment so that women are protected from (a) any risk of radiation and (b) specifically any risk of radiation to the heart.

Malcolm Chisholm: The work of the Quality Assurance Reference Committee of the Scottish Breast Screening Programme (SBSP) has confirmed that there is no significant radiation dose to the heart from a mammogram. In mammography, the position of the breast and direction of the x-ray beam mean that the heart is never directly irradiated and there is no significant radiation dose to the heart.

  Any x-ray examination inevitably results in exposure to radiation. However, risks associated with mammography are very low and controlled by rigorous quality assurance checks.

Justice

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment the Scottish Legal Aid Board makes of the impact on the child or children involved of granting legal aid to one party, and not to the other party, in custody/access cases.

Mr Jim Wallace: Whilst I can appreciate the concerns of the member about the potential impact on any children that might be involved in any such court action, consideration of individual cases is a matter for the Scottish Legal Aid Board. I have, however, asked my officials to contact the board to respond directly to the member on this matter.

Justice

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive in how many cases legal aid was awarded in respect of applications to vary existing custody/access arrangements in each of the past three years and what procedure the Scottish Legal Aid Board has in place to prevent the use of legal aid to pursue vexatious claims for variations of existing custody/access arrangements.

Mr Jim Wallace: This is a matter for the Scottish Legal Aid Board. The information requested is not held centrally.

Justice

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what alternative conflict resolution procedures are available to assist parties to custody/access disputes to reach agreement without recourse to the courts and how many cases were diverted from court proceedings through reference to such procedures in each of the last three years.

Mr Jim Wallace: Procedures are in place which enable the courts in any family action in which an order in relation to parental responsibilities or parental rights is in issue, to refer that issue to a mediator accredited to a specified family mediation organisation.

  According to the annual reports of Family Mediation Scotland, the number of referrals in each of the last three years were:

  


 


1998-99 
  

1999-2000 
  

2000-01 
  



Court of Session 
  

16 
  

Nil 
  

Nil 
  



Sheriff Court 
  

125 
  

112 
  

78 
  



  Referrals are also made by the courts to Comprehensive Accredited Lawyer Mediators (CALM) but no figures are currently available.

  References to mediators are also made by solicitors, other advice agencies and parties themselves. Again no figures are available for CALM, but Family Mediation Scotland received the following referrals from these sources.

  


 


1998-99 
  

1999-2000 
  

2000-01 
  



Solicitors 
  

386 
  

304 
  

312 
  



Other agencies 
  

197 
  

287 
  

248 
  



Parties 
  

2,912 
  

2,402 
  

1,589

Justice

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost was to the public purse of resolving custody/access cases in each of the last three years including (a) payments made by the legal aid board, (b) the administrative costs incurred by the board in processing these payments and (c) the costs borne by the courts’ administration in hearing the cases.

Mr Jim Wallace: Detailed information on the payments in such cases by, and the associated administrative costs of, the Scottish Legal Aid Board are matters for the Scottish Legal Aid Board. This information, and that on the costs borne by the courts, is not held centrally.

Justice

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for an independent inquiry into the recent failed prosecution of Andrew Aspinall.

Colin Boyd QC: There are no plans to hold an independent inquiry into the prosecution of Mr Aspinall. I am awaiting a report from the Procurator Fiscal at Linlithgow into the circumstances of this case, and will consider whether any further action requires to be taken. This may include referring the matter to the High Court of Justiciary in terms of section 123 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995.

Justice

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost was of the investigation, prosecution and trial of Andrew Aspinall.

Colin Boyd QC: The information requested is not available centrally.

Justice

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce the membership of the Summary Justice Review Committee and when the committee will begin its work.

Mr Jim Wallace: The first meeting of the committee took place today. The membership of the committee is:

  Chairman

  Sheriff Principal John McInnes

  Members

  


Mr Jim McColl 
  

Chief Executive, Clyde Blowers Ltd 
  



Professor Peter Duff 
  

Aberdeen University 
  



Sheriff Brian Lockhart 
  

Sheriff at Glasgow 
  



Mr Tim Huntingford 
  

Chief Executive, West Dunbartonshire Council 
  



Mr Tom Dysart 
  

Procurator Fiscal’s Office, Glasgow 
  



Mr Robin Christie 
  

Stipendiary Magistrate, Glasgow District Court 
  



Mrs Phyllis Hands 
  

District Courts Association 
  



Mrs Helen Murray 
  

Justice of the Peace, Perth Commission Area 
  



Chief Constable David Strang 
  

Chief Constable, Dumfries and Galloway 
  



Mr David McKenna 
  

Chief Executive, Victim Support Scotland 
  



Mr Cliff Binning 
  

Scottish Courts Service 
  



Mr Alistair Duff 
  

McCourts Solicitors, Edinburgh. The Law Society of Scotland 
  



  Secretariat

  Secretary: Mr Hugh Dignon, Scottish Executive Justice Department

  COSLA and the Commission for Racial Equality have also been invited to nominate members of the committee and are expected to do so in December.

  The remit of the committee is:

  To review the provision of summary justice in Scotland, including the structures and procedures of the Sheriff Courts and District Courts as they relate to summary business and the inter-relation between the two levels of court, and to make recommendations for the more efficient and effective delivery of summary justice in Scotland.

Local Government

Mr Keith Harding (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will address the recommendation in page 31, paragraph 33 of The Report of the Renewing Local Democracy Working Group  regarding a review of legislation to allow local authorities to use information and communication technologies to streamline the conduct of council business.

Peter Peacock: This and the other Kerley recommendations are currently being considered by the Ministerial Working Group.

Mental Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-19048 by Susan Deacon on 9 November 2001, how many restricted patients who absconded in each year from 1998 to 2000 (a) did not return to hospital within 24 hours and (b) did not return to hospital at all within the period of their restriction order.

Malcolm Chisholm: The figures are as follows:

  


1998 
  

(a) 
  

3 
  

(b) 
  

None 
  



1999 
  

(a) 
  

3 
  

(b) 
  

None 
  



2000 
  

(a) 
  

4 
  

(b) 
  

None

Prison Service

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether prison visitors to prisons run by private companies are subject to fingerprinting and/or photographic records being taken.

Mr Jim Wallace: This is a matter for the operators, Premier Prison Services.

Public Transport

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is considering to improve the safety of children travelling to and from school by contract buses and coaches.

Nicol Stephen: Such vehicles are subject to the safety and other requirements set out in road vehicle legislation. It is open to authorities to specify further requirements in school transport contracts if that seems appropriate to them according to particular local circumstances.

Social Work

Cathie Craigie (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-14638 by Malcolm Chisholm on 12 April 2001, when it will publish the results of its check on the implementation of the recommendations made in Sensing Progress .

Malcolm Chisholm: The Social Work Services Inspectorate will monitor local authorities progress in implementing the recommendations of Sensing Progress and the Chief Inspector of Social Work will record this in his 2002 annual report, a publication date for which has not yet been fixed.

Water Authorities

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the North of Scotland Water Authority has complied with Annex B, Flood Risk Assessment: A Generic Format and Standard , in particular paragraphs 2, 3, 5 and 10, of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s document  Planning Authority Protocol Development at Risk of Flooding: Advice and Consultation  in respect of its flood risk assessment of possible locations for wastewater treatment works at Aviemore.

Ross Finnie: In the first instance, this is a matter for the North of Scotland Water Authority (NoSWA) to resolve with the planning authorities and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency as part of the planning process. I understand that you have written to NoSWA’s Chief Executive requesting this information and she will respond to you directly in due course.

Young People

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what support is given to young people with multiple disadvantages to access job opportunities.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Employment policy is reserved to the UK Government which takes the lead on funding and delivery of the New Deal. In Scotland it does this in partnership with the Scottish Executive and contributing organisations.

  The New Deal for Young People was the first plank of the Government's welfare to work programme. The initial period on the programme, called the Gateway, has been re-designed to allow earlier identification of issues which may prevent the young person from taking full advantage of the programme. Locally, the Employment Service have a number of initiatives designed to engage with unemployed young people who are suffering from various forms of disadvantage in looking for work. Assistance is also available to disadvantaged young people through the New Deal for Lone Parents and New Deal for Disabled People.

  The Training for Work (TfW) programme, although targeted at jobless adults aged 25 and over, also offers help to particular groups of young people seeking to develop their job related skills. These groups include young people aged 18 to 24 who are lone parents or who have a disability, including learning difficulties. Last year 402 young people joined TfW and so far this year 225 have participated in the programme.

  In addition, in Scotland, the New Futures Fund helps unemployed young people who are facing serious disadvantage, such as homeless and drug misuse, in looking for work. Through intensive support and guidance individual projects are funded through this programme to help young people overcome their disadvantage and move towards the labour market.

  Following the recommendations of the Beattie Committee Report the Scottish Executive provided an additional £22.6 million over the period April 2001 to March 2004 to career service companies to develop, manage and co-ordinate multi-agency inclusiveness projects to assist disadvantaged young people between the ages of 16 and 24 in seeking further education, training and employment.

Young People

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has commissioned into the experiences of young people who have left the care system.

Nicol Stephen: In 1999, we commissioned the University of York Social Work Research and Development Unit to undertake a two-year study of the way local authorities in Scotland are discharging their duties and powers to promote throughcare and aftercare services for young people.

  The study is nearing completion. We would hope to publish the findings early in 2002.

Young People

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people who left the care system went into (a) full-time employment, (b) further education, (c) higher education and (d) government training schemes, in each of the past five years.

Nicol Stephen: Information is not held centrally about outcomes for care leavers, but one of our social justice milestones is to halve the proportion of 16 to 19-year-olds who are not in education, training and employment. There are several initiatives under way to address this, often aimed specifically at young people from disadvantaged groups. These include widening access to further and higher education, New Deal 18-24 and New Future Fund projects.

Young People

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of young people who left the care system in each of the past five years had gained (a) three or more standard grades at level 3 or above and (b) at least one higher certificate.

Nicol Stephen: We have not previously collected statistical information on the educational attainment of young people in care. However, this will change from next year and data will be available in 2002-03. In addition, authorities will be required from next year to report on educational attainment of children in their care as one of their statutory performance indicators issued by the Audit Commission. Improvement to educational attainment is also a performance measure in the new National Priorities Framework.

Young People

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people who left the care system in each of the past five years were given advice and assistance under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, broken down by local authority.

Nicol Stephen: There were around 3,800 children who left local authority care in the year to 31 March 2000.

  Under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 authorities must, unless they are satisfied the young person’s welfare does not require it, advise, guide and assist young people living in their area who were looked after by a local authority when the young person ceased to be of school age or at any subsequent time up to the age of 19. This responsibility may continue up to the age of 21 if the young person so requests and the local authority agrees. The type of local authority support available can include assistance in cash or in kind and help with accommodation. Information is not held centrally on the numbers of young people who receive this assistance.